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"You kno ers at Parchman?"

Willard shook his head

" &039;Bout five thousand You kno many white boys are there?"

"No"

" &039;Bout a thousand"

Willard dropped his chin to his chest Ozzie let him think for a ot any idea what those niggers will do to a white boy who raped a little black girl?"

No response

"Lieutenant Griffin, tell Mr Willard hohite boys are treated at Parchman"

Griffin walked to Ozzie&039;s desk and sat on the edge He looked down at Willard "About five years ago a young white irl She elve They aiting on hiht about thirty blacks tied hiuards watched and laughed There&039;s no syht for three months, and then killed him They found hied, then threw his head back and breathed heavily toward the ceiling

"Look, Pete," Ozzie said, "we&039;re not after you We want Cobb I&039;ve been after that boy since he left Parchet Cobb and I&039;ll help you as much as I can I ain&039;t proether You help et Cobb, and I&039;ll help you with the DA Just tell us what happened"

"I wanna lawyer," Willard said

Ozzie dropped his head and groaned "What&039;s a lawyer gonna do, Pete? Get the niggers off of you? I&039;m tryin&039; to help you and you&039;re bein&039; a wiseass"

"You need to listen to the sheriff, son He&039;s trying to save your life," Griffin said helpfully

"There&039;s a good chance you could get off with just a few years here in this jail," Rady said

"It&039;s much safer than Parchman," Prather said

"Choice is yours, Pete," Ozzie said "You can die at Parchman or stay here I&039;ll even consider makin&039; you a trusty if you behave"

Willard dropped his head and rubbed his temples "Okay, okay"

Ozzie punched the red button

"Where&039;d you find the girl?"

"Soravel road"

"Which road?"

"I don&039;t know I&039;s drunk"

"Where&039;d you take her?"

"I don&039;t know"

"Just you and Cobb?""Yeah"

"Who raped her?"

"We both did Billy Ray went first"

"How many times?"

"I don&039;t remember I&039;s smokin&039; weed and drinkin&039;"

"Both of you raped her?"

"Yeah"

"Where&039;d you dump her?"

"Don&039;t remember I swear I don&039;t remember"

Ozzie pushed another button "We&039;ll type this up and get you to sign it"

Willard shook his head "Just don&039;t tell Billy Ray" "We won&039;t," proeted nervously in the leather chair behind the huge, battered oak desk in the judge&039;s chaathered to see about the rape In the sathered around the coffee ossiped about the rape

Bullard&039;s s in a corner by thethat looked north over Washington Street His size-six feet earing jogging shoes that barely touched the floor He was a ss and every other routine hearing After thirteen years on the bench he had never learned to relax Fortunately, he was not required to hear big cases; those were for the Circuit Court judge Bullard was just a County Court judge, and he had reached his pinnacle

Mr Pate, the ancient courtroom deputy, knocked on the door

"Coe"

"How many blacks out there?" Bullard asked abruptly

"Half the courtroom"

"That&039;s a hundred people! They don&039;t draw that ood murder trial Whatta they want?"

Mr Pate shook his head

"Theythese boys today"

"I guess they&039;re just concerned," Mr Pate said softly

"Concerned about what? I&039;" He quieted and stared at the"Is the fanize a few of them, but I don&039;t know her parents"

"How about security?"

"Sheriffs got ever deputy and ever reserve close to the courtroom We checked everbody at the door"

"Find anything?"

"No, sir"

"Where are the boys?"

"Sheriffs got thee seemed satisfied Mr Pate laid a handwritten note on the desk

"What is it?"

Mr Pate inhaled deeply "It&039;s a request fro"

"What!" Bullard&039;s face turned red and he rocked furiously in the swivel chair "Cameras," he yelled, "In my courtroom!" He ripped the note and threw the pieces in the direction of the trash can "Where are they?"

"In the rotunda"

"Order them out of the courthouse"

Mr Pate left quickly

Carl Lee Hailey sat on the row next to the back Dozens of relatives and friends surrounded hiht side of the courtroom The benches on the left side were e a nervous watch on the group of blacks, and especially on Carl Lee, who sat bent over, elbows on knees, staring blankly at the floor

Jake looked out hisacross the square to the rear of the courthouse, which faced south It was 1:00 PM He had skipped lunch, as usual, and had no business across the street, but he did need so all day, and although he had no desire to hear the details of the rape, he hated toThere had to be a crowd in the courtroo spaces around the square A handful of reporters and photographers waited anxiously near the rear of the courthouse by the wooden doors where Cobb and Willard would enter

The jail o blocks off the square on the south side, down the highway Ozzie drove the car with Cobb and Willard in the back seat With a squad car in front and one behind, the procession turned off Washington Street into the short driveway leading under the veranda of the courthouse Six deputies escorted the defendants past the reporters, through the doors, and up the back stairs to the srabbed his coat, ignored Ethel, and raced across the street He ran up the back stairs, through a small hall outside the jury room, and entered the courtroom from a side door just as Mr Pate led His Honor to the bench

"All rise for the court," Mr Pate shouted Everyone stood Bullard stepped to the bench and sat down

"Be seated," he yelled "Where are the defendants? Where? Bring them in then"

Cobb and Willard were led, handcuffed, into the courtroo room They were unshaven, wrinkled, dirty, and looked confused Willard stared at the large group of blacks while Cobb turned his back Looney removed the handcuffs and seated the table where the defense sat Next to it was a long table where the county prosecutor, Rocky Childers, sat taking notes and looking ilanced over his shoulder and again checked on the blacks On the front row just behind him sat his mother and Cobb&039;s mother, each with a deputy for protection Willard felt safe with all the deputies Cobb refused to turn around

Frohty feet away, Carl Lee raised his head and looked at the backs of the two y, bearded, dirty-looking strangers He covered his face and bent over The deputies stood behind hi every an loudly, "This is just a preli, not a trial The purpose of a prelih evidence that a crirand jury The defendants can even waive this hearing if they want to"

Tyndale stood "No sir, Your Honor, ish to proceed with the hearing"

"Very well I have copies of affidavits sworn to by Sheriff Walls charging both defendants with rape of a feravated assault Mr Childers, you may call your first witness"

"Your Honor, the State calls Sheriff Ozzie Walls"

Jake sat in the jury box, along with several other attorneys, all of who important

materials Ozzie orn and sat in the witness chair to the left of Bullard, a few feet from the jury box

"Would you state your name?"

"Sheriff Ozzie Walls"

"You&039;re the sheriff of Ford County?"

"Yes"

"I knoho he is," Bullard h the file

"Sheriff, yesterday afternoon, did your office receive a call about achild?"

"Yes, around four-thirty"

"What did your office do?"

"Deputy Willie Hastings was dispatched to the residence of Gwen and Carl Lee Hailey, the parents of the girl"

"Where was that?"

"Down on Craft Road, back behind Bates Grocery"

"What did he find?"

"He found the girl&039;s mother, who irl"

"Did he find her?"

"No When he returned to the house, the girl was there She&039;d been found by some folks fishin&039;, and they took her hoirl in?"

"She&039;d been raped and beaten"

"Was she conscious?"

"Yeah She could talk, or mumble, a little"

"What did she say?"

Tyndale jumped to his feet "Your Honor, please, I know hearsay is ad like this, but this is triple hearsay"

"Overruled Shut up Sit down Continue, Mr Childers"

"What did she say?"

"Told her momma it hitein theThat&039;s about all She couldn&039;t say much Had both jaws broken and her face kicked in"

"What happened then?"

"The deputy called an ambulance and she was taken to the hospital"

"How is she?"

"They say she&039;s critical"

"What happened then?"

"Based on what I knew at the time I had a suspect in mind"

"So what&039;d you do?"

"I located an informant, a reliable informant, and placed him in a beer joint down by the lake"

Childers was not one to dwell on details, especially in front of Bullard Jake knew it, as did Tyndale Bullard sent every case to the grand jury, so every preliardless of the case, the facts, the proof, regardless of anything, Bullard would bind the defendant over to the grand jury If there was insufficient proof, let the grand jury turn therand jury did not Voters got upset when criminals were cut loose Most defense lawyers in the county waived the prelis before Bullard Not Jake He viewed such hearings as the best and quickest way to look at the prosecution&039;s case Tyndale seldo

"Which beer joint?"

"Huey&039;s"

"What&039;d he find out?"

"Said he heard Cobb and Willard, the two defendants over there, braggin&039; &039;bout rapin&039; a little black girl" (

Cobb and Willard exchanged stares Who was the informant? They remembered little from Huey&039;s

"What&039;d you find at Huey&039;s?"

"We arrested Cobb and Willard, then we searched a pickup titled in the name of Billy Ray Cobb"

"What&039;d you find?"